Sky Eyes
by NymphetamineOverdose
Summary: A one shot of Cremia's life during Link's three days in Termina. Not much romance or action; just a jumble of her thoughts.


**A/N: THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE. I know… bo~ring… In terms of the actual game play, I guess Link would be doing the sidequest for Romani Ranch but not beat the skull kid yet so the moon still falls in the cycle. I made a few changes in the story, however, from the game. For example, I took out the part of the Gorman Brothers chasing Cremia, because that was not really central to what I wanted to write. I also changed Epona's… situation slightly so she is not in the ranch before Link shows up. This really has no plot, action, or conclusion; just Cremia's side of the story. I am sorry it's so long, it may be boring… but then again you don't have to read it if it's boring lol…**

* * *

The road to Romani ranch had been blocked for some reason.

"I tell ya!" Cremia heard the carpenter yell across the rocks. "Things are just getting more and more strange these days! First the moon, and now this!"

"How long will it take to remove the rock, mister?" Cremia found she had to yell as well.

"Three days, at least!" He said. "I'm sorry, Cremia, but until then, I'm afraid that no milk can be delievered."

Cremia yelled out a thank you, and turned her wagon around.

Her mind went to the Gorman Brothers, but two scrawny men could not have moved those gargantuan boulders blocking the road. And besides, why would they do that? That would not only hinder her business but theirs as well. It was indeed strange.

Everything seemed to be strange these days, but as strange these events were, people lived on normally. Sure they paused to remark on how strange things were, but it's never really like the storybooks where people rise up in a panic about strange things that happen around the town. Things were as normal as they always had been, save the milk road, and the huge moon, and the disappearance of a certain person.

* * *

Day 1

"Cally doesn't look very happy these days," announced Romani as she entered the house.

"Does she now?" Cremia said mildly as she flipped the two eggs that were attached together so the mountains of the yellow yolks were replaced by two white lumps. Romani liked her eggs over-easy. Next to that were sizzling links of brown sausages, and on the large pan next to that were four slices of bread, quietly waiting to be picked up over a gentle flame.

"She hardly ate anything for three days now. Besides, all the other cows are acting weird too!" Romani exclaimed worriedly, though she now sat at the kitchen table with her legs dangling and swinging back and forth with anticipation of food.

Cremia suppressed a laugh. "I'll go check on them after we eat."

She soon turned the egg again before sliding it out of the pan onto the wooden plate along with three sausage links. She added two slices of bread next to those, and brought it in front of Romani. The young girl's eyes and mouth widened into a gleeful expression, though as Cremia loaded her own plate, she could tell that Romani's eyes were following her impatiently. Romani never started eating by herself. No matter what, she always waited.

Grog joined them for meals, and he came in without a word. He nodded glumly at Romani as she said her good morning, and took his seat at the edge.

As Cremia settled into the seat across from Romani, the girl picked up her fork and began to cut a large chunk of the egg. The yellow yolk oozed out as the edge of the steel fork sliced through the thin film of the white parts, and soon coated the plate and the surrounding sausages in a oily golden sheen. An oval, dandelion-colored cavern remained on the egg where the liquid yolk had been, and the part on the other side of the fork was lifted by the prongs, and then into the mouth of the hungry child.

"Why do you always want it over-easy when you want the yolks raw anyway?" Cremia asked as she noticed her sister's especially messy plate today. There were streaks of yellow on the fork from being dragged into her mouth.

"I like surprises," said the little girl, her eyes fixed determinedly onto the plate. Her fork was now turned on its side again, this time, squeezing the skin of a sausage. "It's all white until you pop it, and boom! It's yellow!"

"It's an egg, Romani. You already know it's yellow inside."

"It's prettier when it's not there at first!" Argued the girl, now chewing the sausage along with the egg.

Cremia looked down at her own plate. Her two conjoined eggs were over-hard, the yolks clearly visible against the white and slightly crusty. She cut a piece herself, and brought it into her mouth. It was crunchy, soft, and slightly powdery from the overcooked yolk.

"Label the jars after you eat," she said.

* * *

Pieces of old hay were scattered on the stone floor. Cremia took a broom from the corner and swept them out of the cold room. The days were growing colder, and this meant that milk was less prone to spoiling. Luckily, it so happened that the demand for milk was heavier during the colder months. At least one thing in nature was well-suited for her. Not many things were, it seemed. Not that she minded.

_Curses, _shethought as she massaged her lower back. The wretched _time of the month_ was coming. Some girls managed to get through without suffering much or even noticing, but she wasn't so lucky. Every month, the stupid thing liked to make a week-prior preparation with pains and tenderness, and on the first two days _of,_ she might as well just die. Well, maybe not _die_, but many of the things she usually did by herself, she had to have Romani help her. Romani eventually understood that that her older sister was sick for two days once a month, and had never complained about having to do extra work.

Cremia leaned herself against the warm stone of the hearth. It was a particular pang of pain which felt as if the viscera in her lower abdomen was shriveling up slowly, squeezed by an invisible hand. Her legs grew weak, and the pressure on her arms increased as her weight shifted there. Strands of fiery orange hair escaped the bump of her ear to fall like a curtain over her face, but she couldn't feel the need to fling it back again. Her hands were busy clutching the wooden framing as if that would alleviate the momentary pain of being a woman.

She could hear Romani humming a familiar tune outside. It seemed to soothe her somewhat, the sound of the sweet voice.

Technically, Romani sounded just like herself when she had been that age, but something about her sister's voice rang clear and true, like an untarnished glass. Cremia did not remember her own voice sounding that way. Even from the same voice and the same words, people are able to say different things. Romani's songs were pleasant and warm.

Cremia had stopped singing long ago.

_You never sing anymore,_ he had told her before. _You have such a nice voice, why did you stop?_

The pain on her stomach stopped now, and Cremia sank down to the ground. It was not pain which made her stop, it was the feeling of absolute nothingness which brought her to this state of defeat. Instead of sharp pain that she had read and heard about when thinking of someone who left, it was more of a dull one. A cloudy one; as cloudy as the nostalgia which seemed to be blotched by rains of time and contortion. And denial. And a certain warmness which grew into obtuse humidity which threatened to suffocate her.

But then again, then again, it wasn't so bad. She preferred things this way. It was better. She wasn't suffering, she was just reacting. It wasn't a sacrifice, it was just the way it was supposed to be. Sure there were still instances of longing and what people would call "pain," but those things came and went. Like the sickness which came once a month. Like the full moon which came twice as often.

She managed to swim out of the state of "pain" when imagined the pale, narrow face with dark blue eyes that looked purple from time to time, the dark red hair which stopped at her shoulders.

They were the girls with the fiery hair, one a deep glowing ruby, the other a wild citrus orange. People joked that Anju should get herself a little sister somehow too to complete the picture, though they stopped after her father had passed away. Their hands were tied as long as they could remember, and they would have eternally belonged to one another, the girls with fiery hair and blue eyes.

_You are the day sky, _she had said, _and I'll be night sky._

Cremia saw her face floating on a pail of water. _Day sky, _she thought, noting the murky blue of her eyes, reflected in the dirty water.

* * *

Cremia had finished the cleaning, and washed her hands. She was wiping her hands onto her apron in the barns when she heard a commotion outside.

She stepped out of the barns to find a green-clothed boy riding bareback on a small chestnut horse, shooting arrows around at the various balloons placed around the ranch. Cremia stared, quite speechless.

"Oh, Cremia!" Romani said happily. "Milk Road is open now! He's from town!"

This did manage to bring a smile to her face. "I don't believe it! It was such a big blockage… really outdid himself this time," She said, hugging her sister. "But Romani, who is he?"

"That's grasshopper," she said, "and that pretty horse, is Epona!" She exclaimed.

Cremia smiled patiently, realizing that all her excited remarks did little to answer her real question, but Romani eventually explained herself, she just had to wait. "His archery skills are really quite impressive," Cremia said, as the boy pierced three in a row.

"I think he should be a good helper."

"Helper?"

"You know, with protecting the cows," Romani explained.

"Protecting the- oh no… is this what this is about?" Cremia said with a sigh. "Romani, no one is going to steal the cows," Cremia chided gently.

Romani turned her frowning face towards her older sister. "Why don't you believe me?" She whined, clearly frustrated. "Don't you remember Bia and Jui disappearing last year? Sancha the year before that?"

"Accidents do happen here, you know."

"Yeah, but they always happen at the same day. Don't you find that weird?" She argued. She was visibly fuming now, indignant that no one would believe her.

Cremia suppressed another sigh. "Fine, fine. He can stay here tonight. I will take him back to town tomorrow night though when I make my delivery. Deal?"

Romani's face lit up instantly. "Deal," she said with a grin.

Dinner was thick stew made of beef and vegetables with fresh baked bread.

His name was not really Grasshopper, but he indulged Romani a bit. Romani seemed to fancy him, and Cremia didn't blame him. The boy was very beautiful with golden hair and blue eyes. He was not the talkative type, and seemed to have a mature air about him, but the notebook he carried gave him away as a part of the Bombers, and he seemed to take this seriously. She saw him record things on there as Romani told him all about the cows. He would grow up to be a fine man, she thought. There seemed to be something awfully familiar about the boy, his strange yellow fairy, and his ocarina.

Grog looked at the boy from time to time, but made no comment. He ate his fill and left to the Cucco shack, leaving the three of them. Romani happily told the boy, Link, all about their life at the ranch, and though he did not say much, he listened intently. He did have a slight smile on his lips though, as if her story amused him.

"Link," Cremia called when she saw an opportune break in Romani's story. "Would you like more stew and bread?" She asked.

He did not reply right away which meant he was simply too polite to say yes.

Cremia smiled and heaped on a generous helping of stew in his empty bowl. "There's more in the pot if you're still hungry or anytime during the night, all right? No need to be shy."

He smiled gratefully, muttering a soft "thank you," and Cremia left the two children in the mama house to label the jars that Romani had left undone.

The air was cool and refreshing, even under the crushing weight of the moon.

People talked about how it was going to fall onto them. Cremia wasn't sure if she wanted to believe that or not, but lately, everyone seemed to believe that this was the case. Several people had already asked her that in the case it really did fall, if they could take shelter at the ranch.

After she labeled the last jar, she crouched onto the ground, leaning against the crate as another pang of pain unfurled on her lower abdomen. She curled herself in, leaning her forehead onto her knee even after the pang went away. After the pain was emptiness. Sometimes, she wanted to hold on to its retreating fingers.

"_It had always been you, has it not?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Why did you lie? You didn't have to lie to me. You know I wouldn't stand in your way."_

"_It isn't that… it's…"_

_"It's not that complicated. Nothing is."_

_She smiled to her. She was someone she identified and confided in all these years. By some thread of magic, the two of them had always felt the same about everything. It now seemed, even for the same man. Only, there was one fundamental difference, and perhaps that was the root of it._

_She placed her hand over hers. She was only slightly darker than the other girl, also with red hair. They could've been sisters too. _

"_Nothing has changed," she told her. "I am still here."_

* * *

Day 2

Cremia's blue gaze was met by the sky which was bleak and taupe with rain drops threatening to fall the next day.

"Oh dear…" She muttered.

The moon was larger than ever before, and she swore she could see a demonic face carved on the surface of it. Long ago, she thought the moon beautiful, but close up like this, it was not beautiful at all. It was ugly and terrifying.

Romani yawned, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Cremia suspected that she had been "protecting" the cows all night. "Did you protect the cows last night?" Cremia asked playfully. After all, none of the cows did go missing.

Romani did not say anything, but she exchanged knowing smiles with Link before saying "He's a little hero, after all."

So grasshopper evolved into a little hero now. Cremia chuckled.

As she prepared lunch, Cremia made a mental note to pick up some cured ham tonight on her way back from delivery. There was only bread and cheese to eat.

She prepared both of Romani and Link's portion on one plate while she prepared Grog's portion on the other. The humble meal consisted of slices of bread, large chunks of cheese, and small apples.

"Romani, lunch," Cremia said, setting down one of the plates on a crate.

Romani was too busy feeding Epona, or rather, watching her eat, so she did not answer. She was telling Epona all about the various things that had been going on as the horse calmly ate from the trough full of oats. Link on the other hand, smiled appreciatively with a shy "thank you."

"Milk is in the pitcher if you get thirsty," she told them, then walked across the vast ranch ground to the Cucco Shack, and watched the ground for any yellow tufts once she entered.

"Cremia?" a low, moody voice called from ahead.

"Hi Grog," Cremia said with a smile. "I brought lunch."

Grog accepted the plate without any special remarks. The first few times Cremia handed him food or invited him over, he had tried to reject, but over time it became habit that she provided him food.

"Is he a new hired hand?" He asked, biting a large chunk of bread.

Cremia shook her head. "No I am taking him back to town tonight."

Grog nodded, his mohawk moving solidly along with his head, but he said "I thought so. What would be the point anyway… he won't live through his first earnings."

She wanted to object, but she found herself looking at the sky instead. The sun looked very small now, compared to the moon which seemed to invade the sky, even during the day. "It's unsettling, isn't it?" she said, settling herself next to him on the grass, making sure there was no cucco around the immediate vicinity.

Grog didn't say anything immediately; he just looked around at the little yellow cuccos scattered and chirping around. "Maybe this might all be a dream," he muttered, taking off a chunk of his bread to toss at a cucco that had wandered its way in front of him.

"A dream?" Cremia inquired. A word such as _dream_ was not usually a part of his vocabulary.

"When whomever that is dreaming of us wakes up, we'll all disappear."

Cremia gazed at the tiny yellow cucco pecking at the piece of bread. Few more began flocking over to the piece of bread, and Grog tossed another piece nearby which attracted even more attention. Soon, the majority of the cuccos were gathered by his feet, pecking at the bread pieces hungrily.

She would have dismissed the bleak remark normally, but she found that she could not object this time. In a way, thinking that she had been part of a dream seemed more poetic and less violent. The emptiness, the chaotic jumble of meaningless thoughts and emotions would make sense somewhat if everything she felt was a dream.

And yet…

Cremia looked towards the ranch, where she could see the vague shape of Romani still talking to the horse. Her younger sister was now munching on something, encouraging Link to join in on something that she was doing. Some things were too real to be only a dream, too precious to surrender to making it into a dream.

"Are you afraid to die, Grog?" Cremia asked.

"No," he said without hesitation, but he added, "but I'm afraid of pain."

"Pain," she repeated. "You think it'll hurt to die?"

Grog took another bite off of the bread. "I think so."

"I hope you're right then. It doesn't hurt any to wake up," Cremia said, looking back at her sister. "I never really have dreams so I never liked the night much. Not like Anju did. She looked up at the night sky and told me that the stars were wishes that people made, and when they fell, they became true."

Grog shrugged though his expression remained gloomy. "What things did you wish for?"

"Nothing really," Cremia paused. "One thing that came close to a dream or a wish… It was more of a… longing to be something. Something I was not. And yet I always just want to be myself. Does that make any sense?"

Grog did not say anything. He studied the cuccos and then threw another two pieces of bread as the previous two were almost gone. The cuccos gathered in two arcs to busily peck at the new batch of food. "No," he said at last. "But it doesn't have to."

Cremia appreciated Grog. He always accepted things in that mellow, surrendering way. Though this was not good for him in general, it also meant that he did not judge her strangeness. He never asked questions, he simply listened.

They sat there after that, not able to say anything more but together in their respective longings for something neither could explain. Romani's distant laughter rang towards the two of them amidst the comforting sounds of the chirping cuccos. If she had looked back at Grog just then, she would have realized that the cuccos were not the only thing that Grog was afraid to lose, but that was why she did not look at him.

It was why Kafei had not looked back either.

* * *

Cremia made sure the donkey was tightly latched onto the wagon. There was a time a few years back when she had not latched the donkey on quite right, and the donkey walked on by itself for a few feet. That would have been fine, but holding onto the rein, Cremia had followed the donkey few seconds into the air, and then partially dragged on the ground. She still had scars on her knees to prove it.

After triple checking, she hopped onto the wagon, staring at the still cloudy sky. The night seemed to come on a lot more quicker these days, even if the season was folding into autumn. It had to be the moon, Cremia thought. It seemed to sneer down at her.

The Carnival was tomorrow, which meant that the milk would be in more demand than ever, especially for Chateau Romani. She was glad that Grog had helped her load the cart. With her cramps, back pain, and other inconveniences of being a woman, she probably would have died trying to load the cart on her own. Once at Latte, the workers would take care of the load.

And then… Cremia quickly turned her thoughts away from the subject of the future. Future didn't really exist, after all. As time moved on, it was always just the present. The present of being here, and then the present of eternally moving towards a future that no one can live to reach. In a way, the future was a very simple thing; it was the present that was always the problem.

Cremia lowered her head to the ground to sigh for what seemed like the fiftieth time that day when she caught a pair of booted legs next to the wagons. It was Link.

"Oh… Good evening," Cremia said with a smile, trying to brush over her distraction. That's right; she had told him he could go with her to Clock Town. She was glad, actually. She could use a companion while driving once in a while.

The boy looked up curiously.

"I'm going to town now to deliver milk, would you like a ride?" She asked.

He nodded, though he looked a bit apologetic as if he was intruding on something.

"That's great," Cremia said smiling reassuringly. "Tonight, I am kind of lonely," she found herself saying. "I welcome company."

Link climbed onto the wagon easily before she could offer him help. Cremia wondered what kind of a life the boy had to lead in order to get in such a shape. He could hardly be more than ten or so. Had he noticed the moon? Cremia thought about warning the boy as she saw him scribbling something again in his Bomber's notebook.

She knew that notebook well. She had once longed to be a part of it as well, and Anju too. The boys thought they were too "girly" to join, however, so the two of them had to pacify themselves by playing Kafei's assistants. Eventually they were allowed to join after Kafei convinced them, but Cremia never took care of her notebook. She wouldn't even be able to find it now for the life of her. Anju had used hers as a diary, and she cried when she saw Kafei read it one day because all of her feelings had been written inside of them. Cremia always found herself wondering what if she had done the same.

"It must be difficult to run the ranch by yourselves," said Link, bringing her out of her memories.

She smiled, though not without a hint of bitterness. "I guess it's been awhile now since our father died," Cremia explained, thinking of a face she hadn't remembered in a while.

Her father, a jolly man with a round belly, was someone who could be explained as the perfect model of a farmer. He doted on his daughters and always wore an easy smile beneath his bushy mustache while maintaining the ranch. Yes, he bumbled sometimes, but Cremia had managed to make up for those parts. She played the role of the assistant well, but… well… "I'm trying to take care of the ranch, but things have been getting unstable lately," she finished with a sigh. She didn't want to complain, especially in front of a young boy her sister's age, but his silent profile, the solemn expression he regarded her with seemed to coax her on.

"The cows always seem bothered and frazzled and I'm finding broken bottles everywhere… Who's doing it, I don't know," she had a vague idea who, but he didn't have to know. "My sister Romani has been worried too. She's practicing using a bow… She says it's to stop the _ghosts_. You should know that though, you protected the ranch yesterday with her, didn't you?"

Link smiled, looking up at the sky.

"In town, I have a friend. Her name is Anju," Cremia said absentmindedly. "Anju… the day after tomorrow is her wedding." She kept silent, the part about how she was unsure whether it would happen or not. Or if she wanted it to happen or not. But then again, Cremia had never wanted anything from life. She just reacted from the things that happened. She saw no point in wanting anything because sometimes, there was no way to have the things she wanted. The emptiness was chaotic and yet relaxing.

Link turned his head towards her, though his expression remained unreadable.

"I wonder if it'll fall… that thing?" Cremia said, looking at the huge moon hung like a frozen pendulum under the thick clouds.

It was night time now, she knew, so above the suffocating layer of gas and rock would shine the thousands of stars like shards of her wishes left unfulfilled. She never saw any stars fall in her lifetime but then again, she never believed in falling stars. Nothing was the way they seemed. No one believed in falling moons either. Cremia knew by now that she would never see them again, those wishes embedded on a velvet sky of navy blue, the night sky of Anju's eyes.

* * *

Final Day

Fireworks marked the last day, the awakening from the strange dream called Termina.

People were gathered in her barn, believing that their sheer belief that the ranch was safe would really shield them from the crushing weight of the moon. Many had brought food and sleeping cots with them, something that would last through for a few days. Many were playing games and other things to take their minds off of the apocalypse.

Romani was dancing around, cheeks flushed from her first (and last) experience from Chateau Romani. She was delirious with joy, constantly falling into Cremia's arms in a dazed smile.

"When Romani grows up," she paused dramatically before going on. "I am going to be married to a prince!" She declared.

"Does the prince have a name?" Cremia asked gently.

Romani giggled for a few minutes, quite unable to control herself. "Maybe it's more like a hero," she whispered into her ears. "Romani thinks Grasshopper would become a hero, don't you think?"

Cremia kissed her rosy cheeks which were warmer than they usually were. "Yes. He'll make a dashing hero."

"Then can you make Romani a moon's mask too?"

"Of course."

A deafening sound of rough, grinding sounds silenced some and brought screams out of others. Some ran towards the window to have a closer look while others turned away from the window as if not looking would nullify the fact that the moon was much closer to the ground than some of their houses were now.

"It's alright!" A man yelled in a superficially bright voice. "It's just the storm clouds!"

"Of course!" Someone agreed. "It happens all the time!"

Small chuckles and laughter broke out from here and there, making remarks on how foolish they were for being scared about nothing. Every one of those voices was tense beneath the mask of candidness, but no one commented.

Actually they knew. They knew that they were not safe here, either. Many clutched at their most prized possessions with them, face stained with tears.

Romani looked sleepily at Cremia before falling into her arms again.

"Ugh… I'm so… sleepy," she said.

"Then sleep, my love." Cremia said, caressing the smooth skin of her face.

Romani blissfully closed her eyes, snuggling into her as if she was a blanket.

Sometimes, unbelievable things did happen. If two hearts could unite and create what was called love, then the moon could fall just as easily from its heavenly perch into the cold earth.

That was how life went, she guessed. There were some things in life that couldn't change no matter how hard one tried.

A sun's mask and a moon's mask would unite tonight under the crumbling heavens.

Her moon, unable to find her sun, fell like a wish star, and shattered the world she knew.


End file.
